MacRumors

While the big news out of Apple's iPhone 4 press conference was the announcement of free cases for customers and a positioning of antenna issues as affecting nearly all smartphones, there was additional news from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, including acknowledgment of proximity sensor issues with a fix promised for the next iOS software update. Jobs also made several other announcements which may be of interest to readers:

- Over 3 Million iPhone 4s Sold: Jobs announced early in his presentation that the iPhone 4 has sold over three million units since its launch in the U.S. and four other countries on June 24th.

The iPhone 4 is perhaps the best product we've ever made at Apple, and we have sold well over three million since we launched it three weeks ago. Just three weeks ago.

The company had previously announced sales of over 1.7 million units in the first three days of availability.

- White iPhone 4 Coming End of July: Jobs also announced that the white iPhone 4 will begin shipping in limited quantities by the end of this month, meeting earlier promises that they would become available in the second half of July.

A lot of people waiting for the white iPhone. We're going to start shipping it at the end of this month. And our quantities will be limited at first - we're ramping up as fast as we can. The white iPhones will start shipping at the end of July.

- iPhone 4 to 17 New Countries on July 30th: Apple had announced at the iPhone 4's official introduction in early June that the second batch of iPhone 4 launches would take place in 18 countries at the end of July. Jobs today announced that those countries, with the exception of South Korea, will see the iPhone 4 arrive on July 30th.

On July 30th, we are going to bring the iPhone to 17 more countries, and these are the same 17 we talked about before with the omission of just South Korea because it's going to take just a little bit longer to get government approval there.

During today's press conference. Apple's Steve Jobs revealed that they are tracking some issues with the iPhone 4's proximity sensor and expects to fix this in the next software update. We previously reported on this issue two weeks ago:

one of the most prevalent [problems] of late has been problems with the device's proximity sensors designed to sense when the phone is held up to the user's face and deactivate the device's screen, thus preventing unintended activation of buttons on the display.

Affected users found themselves accidentally ending calls or causing other unintended key presses. No word on when the software update will become available.

At its iPhone 4 press conference today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the results of the company's investigation into complaints of signal problems on the new device. According to Jobs, the issue is being experienced by a very small proportion of customers but that the company wants every customer to be satisfied.

To that end, Jobs outlined three steps the company has taken:

- iOS 4.0.1 fixes the signal strength display issue by recalibrating the "bars" displayed, and all customers should apply the software update.

- Apple will provide all iPhone 4 customers who purchase their phones by September 30th a free case. Customers will be able to choose from Apple's own bumpers, as well as third-party cases sourced from other vendors. Customers who have already purchased a bumper can receive a refund. Apple's site will begin taking orders for the free cases beginning late next week, and the company will re-revaluate the case situation as it gets closer to the September deadline.

- Any customer who is still unhappy with their iPhone 4 can return it, provided it is undamaged, within 30 days of purchase with no restocking fee charged.

Jobs maintained throughout that the issue was one common to other mobile phones and according to their data, this affects a very small percentage of iPhone 4 owners.

Apple today is holding its iPhone 4 press conference where it is expected to address issues with the device's cellular signal reception.

The event is scheduled to kick off at Apple's Cupertino headquarters at 10:00 AM Pacific Time / 1:00 PM Eastern Time, or just about one hour from now. Apple will not be providing live video or audio coverage of the event, and thus observers will have to rely primarily on text and photo updates coming out of the event.

Live Web/Twitter Coverage

- Engadget
- All Things Digital
- MobileCrunch
- Ars Technica
- gdgt
- Fortune
- MacRumors Twitter updates

We'll also be providing event updates here in this article.

Recent News and Rumors

- iPhone 4 Signal Issue Can Be Fixed With a Software Update?
- Apple Not Planning an iPhone 4 Recall
- Apple Addresses iPhone Signal Strength Display With iOS 4.0.1 and iPad Wi-Fi Connectivity With iOS 3.2.1
- Analyst Claims Design Fix for iPhone 4 Signal Issue Being Deployed
- Consumer Reports 'Can't Recommend' iPhone 4 Due to Signal Issues

Event Updates

- Media are being let into Apple Town Hall for the press conference. The Wall Street Journal has noted the presence of a representative from Consumer Reports, the magazine that made the iPhone 4's antenna issue mainstream news earlier this week.

- Most of Apple's top executives are seated in the front row: Tim Cook, Bertrand Serlet, Bob Mansfield and Phil Schiller.

- Press conference opens with video of iPhone 4 antenna song.

- Jobs takes the stage. Scheduled for a 15 minute presentation followed by a Q&A

- Jobs says, "We're not perfect. Phones are not perfect. We all know that. But we want to make our users happy."

- iPhone 4 is best product we've ever made. We've sold over 3 million of them. Highest customer satisfaction rating, but we've been getting reports of antenna problems. It's been dubbed "Antennagate". We're an engineering-driven company, so we wanted to find the real problem. So here's our data.

- Shows BlackBerry Bold 9700 (Research in Motion), HTC Droid Eris (Android), and Samsung Omnia II (Windows Mobile) all behaving in exactly the same way. Bars drop to one or zero when held in areas of weak signal. A challenge for the entire industry.

- "X" marks the spot. We made it very visible, and with the help of our friends on some websites, everybody knows where to touch to make it happen. We haven't found a way around the laws of physics yet.

- Shows off state-of-the-art antenna testing facility. Invested over $100 million in antenna testing facilities over the past 5 years and have 18 PhD scientists working on antenna design.

- We knew if you gripped the iPhone in a certain way, the bars would go down, just like every smartphone. It's a challenge to the industry and we're hoping to contribute to some solutions over the coming years.

- Only 0.55% of iPhone 4 customers have called AppleCare about the antenna issue. Historically not a large number for us. Return rates through AT&T for iPhone 4 are at 1.7%, far below the gold standard iPhone 3GS return rate of 6%.

- AT&T data on dropped call rates. Exact data not available due to competitive reasons, but we can say that despite our belief that the iPhone 4 has a better antenna design than the 3GS, dropped call rates have increased. But how much? Less than one call per 100 more than iPhone 3GS.

- It's not much difference, but it's too much for us, and we want to know why. Jobs' theory is that when the iPhone 3GS came out, there was already a healthy market for cases that fit it. With the iPhone 4, 80% of consumers are buying the phone without a case, and we can't make bumpers fast enough.

- Our engineers see there's a problem, but it's affecting only a small number of people. I've received over 5000 emails from customers who are having no problems and don't understand the fuss. But we care about every user, and we're not going to stop until everyone is happy.

- Here's what we're going to do. Yesterday, we released iOS 4.0.1...everyone should update.

- Free cases for everyone who bought or buys an iPhone 4 through September 30th. If you've bought a bumper already, we'll refund you. We can't make enough bumpers, so we'll source some third-party cases and you can pick. Apply on Apple's site starting late next week.

- If you're still not happy, you can return your undamaged iPhone 4 within 30 days for a full refund, no restocking fee.

- Other updates: We're also tracking proximity sensor problems, and we'll address those in our next software update.

- White iPhone 4 will begin shipping in limited quantities at the end of this month.

- Next batch of international iPhone 4 rollouts will take place on July 30th.

- We love our users, and we've built over 300 retail stores with Genius Bars to serve them and get free advice. But when we fall short, we pick ourselves up, figure out what's wrong, and try harder. And when we succeed, users reward us with their loyalty. When we have problems, we take it personally. Maybe we should have a wall of PR people to insulate us, but we don't.

- We've been working very hard over the past 22 days to figure out the problem, and we've confirmed that the heart of the problem is that all smartphones have weak spots. And if our customers are having problems, we'll give them free cases or a full refund. But the data supports that this is the best smartphone in the world and there is no "Antennagate" for us, but a challenge to the entire industry.

Q&A with Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, and Bob Mansfield

Q: How's your health, Steve?
A: Fine! I was on vacation in Hawaii, but this was worth coming back for.

Q: Any changes to future antenna design?
A: Steve: We're still working on this. We're happy with the design. Maybe our wizards will come up with something better, but we don't think there's a problem here.

Q: I can't get my BlackBerry Bold's signal to drop like the iPhone 4's.
A: Steve: You may not see it in certain areas.

Q: Why does this happen with just a single finger? It doesn't require a full grip.
A: Bob: Your body is a pretty effective signal absorber. So when you touch it, you attenuate the signal. But when you grip it, you can attenuate it even more.

Q: Were you warned about this issue?
A: Steve: I assume you're talking about the Bloomberg article. It's a crock. I've challenged them to prove it. I've talked to Ruben (the antenna engineer who supposedly warned Jobs during the design process) and he agrees it's bullshit.

Q: Will you apologize for investors?
A: Steve: We are apologizing to our customers. We want investors for the long haul. To those investors who bought the stock and are down $5, I have no apology.

Q: Do Apple customers have to choose between form and function?
A: Steve: No. We try to have our cake and eat it too.

Q: Refunds for AT&T contracts too?
A: Steve: I believe so.

Q: Is there anything you could have said during the iPhone 4 launch keynote to lower expectations?
A: Steve: I've thought about that a lot. We didn't fully understand if there were problems. We might have set the expectations that all smartphones have weak spots. One of the things we've learned by being a leader in the smartphone world is that we have to educate. So we needed data, and we've got that now. You could make a really big smartphone that doesn't have this problem, so big you can't get your hand around it, but no one's going to buy that. We're not perfect, and we're working our asses off.

Q: Why the September 30th deadline for free cases?
A: Steve: It's so we can re-evaluate. We don't know what solutions may come up by then. Maybe Eminem will come out with a band-aid that goes over the corner and everyone will want that.

Q: If you bought a third-party case, can you get a refund?
A: Steve: We're not going to refund third-party cases. It's a very small number because we didn't share designs with case makers, but now we wish there were more out there! Case makers have a history of disclosing designs we share with them, so we don't share. If people know what's coming, they stop buying the old version.

Q: Do any of you use bumpers on your iPhone 4s?
A: All three executives hold up their phones...no bumpers or cases. Steve: I don't, and I get better reception. I don't see the "death grip" issue.

Q: What have you learned here?
A: Steve: One is how much we love our customers and how much we want to take care of them. We were stunned, upset, and embarrassed by the Consumer Reports stuff, but we didn't know enough to be able to address it. If we'd done this event a week and a half ago, we wouldn't have had half the data we have today. We're engineers, and we want to solve real, hard problems. I don't think we could have done this faster...we've had cots in the labs, cars here all night. We've been living here. But's human nature to tear down successful people. I see it happening to Google, a great company. Haven't we earned the credibility and trust that we'll take care of our customers? The reaction has been overblown, and we could use your help with this.

Q: Did you consider a recall?
A: Steve: When you love your customers, nothing is off the table. But we want to be data-driven. We sent engineers to people's homes to test equipment and take logs. And we didn't bash down any doors!

Q: How about return rates at Apple stores?
A: Tim: Very lower, lower than AT&T's numbers.

Q: The New York Times says there might be a software fix. Is that true?
A: Steve: We just talked about how the iPhone 4 only drops 1 call per hundred more than the 3GS. Go talk to the Times, because they're just making this stuff up. Scott Forstall comes on-stage: It's patently false. We can continue to tune the way the baseband interacts with the network, and we do that all the time, but the Times' statement is untrue.

Q: What kind of financial impact do you expect?
A: Tim: We'll wait for our Q3 financial results conference call next week to discuss that.

Q: I use my iPhone in heavily-congested San Francisco. Does the handset have any role in congestion management?
A: Steve: I'll let Scott answer that one, but I'll say this...when AT&T wants to add a tower in Texas, it takes three weeks. When they want to do it in San Francisco, it takes three years. No one wants it in their backyard. AT&T is investing, but it takes time.

Q: A couple of years ago you released an iPhone software update that improved reception. How does that relate?
A: Steve: We came to the realization about 8 years ago that we didn't want to get into a business unless we controlled the primary technology. And we did that with the iPod, and moved on to the iPhone, where he can frictionlessly distribute software updates because we control it. And now everybody's copying us. But to answer your question, the formula for calculating the bars has been off since the beginning, so I'm not sure I understand your question.

Q: Well, you supposedly fixed this problem two years ago, and now you say it's been a problem all along.
A: Steve: They're probably unrelated. I honestly don't remember the issue you're talking about.

Q: You've been communicating with customers a lot via email. How has that impacted how you're dealing with the issues?
A: Steve: I've always done that...my address it out there. But I get a lot of email and can't respond to all of them. People have started posting them on the web, which is a bit rude, but now they're even making them up. But I want to communicate with our customers.

Q: Regarding free case offer, will it extend outside U.S., and will it be extended past September 30th?
A: Steve: Yes, and we'll evaluate things as far as any possible extension.

That wraps up the Q&A. Steve thanks everyone for coming and asks "Has this helped?" Says he wishes it could have been done in the first 48 hours, but then you wouldn't have had as much to write about.

In late May, word surfaced that Apple would be providing subsidies to workers at its Taiwanese manufacturing partner Foxconn. The subsidies were reported to be in the range of 1-2% of profits from the Apple products being produced and were part of a larger effort to address low morale and increasing public scrutiny over employee suicides at the company's mammoth manufacturing complex in Longhua, China.

A brief report today from DigiTimes cites comments from a Foxconn executive made in the Chinese-language National Business Daily denying those reports.

The executive said the rumor is purely speculation and Foxconn has never received any subsidies from Apple, the report said.

In order to address the worker issues at its plant, Foxconn has instituted substantial wage increases and transferred management of the sprawling dormitory complexes for workers at its Longhua plant, which has a staff of 300,000 workers, to independent companies.

Foxconn has also announced plans to shift some of its production of Apple products away from the Longhua plant to new facilities in northern and central China.

HardMac provides some long awaited rumors about the overdue Mac Pro and iMac updates. According to the site, Apple won't be releasing a new Mac Pro until "end of summer" with the iMac revision to follow a few weeks later.

They also report that Apple will be introducing two new technologies into their desktop machines: USB 3.0 and faster FireWire:

On this occasion, Apple should inaugurate two great innovations, the arrival of USB 3.0 and a faster Firewire interface, 1600 or 3200. Thus, Firewire will not forgotten.

The also report that Lightpeak isn't expected for another year, and, of course, we won't see Blu-Ray in these desktop Macs either.

Despite the fact that today's release of iOS 4.0.1 addressed only the display of signal strength on the iPhone and not actual signal attenuation issues caused by touching the antenna in the side of the iPhone 4, a software fix may yet still be possible.

According to The New York Times, the signal attenuation issue is the result of an interaction between communication software within the device's operating system and the antenna, an issue that could presumably be addressed with a software update.

One person with direct knowledge of the phone's design said Thursday that the iPhone 4 exposed a longstanding weakness in the basic communications software inside Apple's phones and that the reception problems were not caused by an isolated hardware flaw.

Instead, the problems emerged in the complex interaction between specialized communications software and the antenna, said the person, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

The source also indicates that Apple CEO Steve Jobs did not learn of the signal issue until after the iPhone 4 began shipping, seemingly refuting a report from Bloomberg earlier today claiming that Jobs had been tipped off early in the design process that the antenna design could cause a problem.

The person said the problems were longstanding but had been exposed by the design of the iPhone 4. All cellphones can be affected by the way a hand grips the phone, but well-designed communications software compensates for a variety of external factors and prevents calls from dropping, the person said.

The issue is reportedly unrelated to the signal display issue already addressed by Apple in iOS 4.0.1.

If the source's claims are true, the information could shed some light on recent comments made by Jobs in an email to a customer claiming that the "facts are different" than has been portrayed by blogs and the media, which have positioned the issue as a hardware problem possibly necessitating a recall.

Apple has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow at 10:00 AM Pacific Time to address the iPhone 4, and the company is widely expected to discuss the signal issues. Sources indicated earlier today, however, that Apple is not planning a recall of the device.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is not planning on issuing an iPhone 4 recall at tomorrow's press conference.

Apple's iPhone 4 has been dogged by reports of antenna-reception problems since its launch last month. The company has called a news conference to discuss the issue Friday. Apple doesn't plan to recall the phone, a person familar with the matter said.

Apple engineers were apparently aware of the risks associated with the external antenna design but "Mr. Jobs liked the design so much that Apple went ahead with its development". Earlier today, a Bloomberg article similarly claimed an Apple engineer expressed concern about the design.

The iPhone 4 signal issue has exploded in the media in recent days even with New York senator Charles Schumer publishing an open letter to Steve Jobs expressing concerns about the issue. Schumer is known for his efforts in consumer protection.

Apple is holding a press conference tomorrow to address the issue.

Late last month, Anandtech detailed the signal strength drop-off experienced by iPhone 4 users when bridging the antenna gap at the lower left corner of the device, mapping how the "bars" of signal strength shown on the device correspond to actual signal levels and how holding the phone in various positions affected that signal under iOS 4.0.

Anandtech has now followed up with a test on Apple's iOS 4.1 beta released yesterday that includes changes to how the visual "bar" indicators correspond to actual signal strength. Anandtech has also confirmed that the changes in today's iOS 4.0.1 update have the same effect.

The results are conclusive - Apple has dramatically changed the signal strength to signal bar mapping in iOS 4.0.1 and the iOS 4.1 beta, making the dynamic range not only much broader, but the range values for each bar much wider. The range of signals that correspond to bars three and four are the same width, and bar two is only slightly less.

The cutoff value for two bars to one bar remains the same, but every other value has increased. The result is that the worst case drop of 24 dBm no longer makes all the signal bars disappear, but rather two.

Notably, Apple has adjusted the bar scale such that the lowest bar remains visible at a signal level down to -121 dBm, significantly lower than the -113 dBm limit in iOS 4.0. Anandtech's report claims that voice and data transmission on the iPhone 4 remained intact all the way down to -121 dBm, bolstering Apple's claims of increased overall sensitivity and reception with the iPhone 4's design.

The report claims that Apple's changes are doing away with a cover-up of AT&T's poor network coverage in many areas and will likely result in some confusion as customers see fewer number of bars than they are used to. The fact that Apple has also increased the heights of the lower bars alongside the change to the mapping of actual signal to bar display appears to be a ploy to somehow makes things appear better than they are, with the subtle, but baseless, suggestion that taller bars imply better signal.

The new signal strength visualization in iOS 4.0.1 is simply going to be more honest with iPhone users. Whether that's going to result in customers confused about why their phone performs "worse" after the update or simply get really mad at AT&T remains to be seen.

Regardless, many observers are expecting to hear more about Apple's response to the signal issue at the company's press conference scheduled for tomorrow. While the company's changes to the signal strength mapping and display may offer a more accurate representation of cellular coverage in a given location, it does not yet address the actual drop in signal seen with the iPhone 4's antenna design.

Silicon Alley Insider reports that it has spoken with a source close to the negotiations that ultimately resulted in HP acquiring Palm earlier this year. According to the source, Apple was very interested in acquiring Palm, primarily for its intellectual property, but was outbid by HP.

Even more interestingly, the source claims that Apple was interested in keeping Palm's business intact, possibly in order to challenge Research in Motion in the market of consumers focused on smartphones carrying hardware keyboards.

Apple was mostly interested in Palm's huge library of intellectual property and patents. And unlike some other bidders, Apple even seemed committed to funding Palm's operations, perhaps to challenge RIM's dominance in the keyboarded segment of the smartphone industry, our source says. (There's a bunch of problems with this idea, such as the idea of Apple supporting two rival app platforms, but that's what this person says.) Ultimately, Apple didn't bid high enough, while HP offered an amount the board couldn't say no to. (Recall that Steve Jobs tried to buy Palm years ago in its first life, too, when it was owned by 3Com.)

The source also shared a couple of other interesting pieces of information, including claims that Google expressed initial interest in Palm, primarily because it thought Apple might be interested, but backed off because it didn't know Apple was actually putting forth a bid. Additionally, Research in Motion initially had the highest bid for Palm and was close to sealing the deal but lost out when HP increased its bid.

Palm, which featured a number of former Apple executives and engineers on its team, faced off against Apple on a number of fronts, with Apple even resorting to veiled threats against the company over multitouch functionality and other features in Palm's webOS. The companies also sparred over iTunes syncing, with each side issuing multiple software updates to alternately enable and disable the Palm Pre's ability to directly tap into users' iTunes libraries to load media content.

As predicted earlier today, Apple has released iOS 4.0.1 (8A306) for the iPhone 4, 3GS, and 3G. According to the release notes, the update addresses changes to the signal strength indicators as promised by Apple earlier this month.

- Improves the formula to determine how many bars of signal strength to display

Early reports on the signal strength indicator changes included in the iOS 4.1 beta released to developers yesterday suggest that the changes do not affect actual signal strength, but only adjust the visual "bar" indicators on the screen. Apple is holding a press conference tomorrow regarding the iPhone 4, and it is presumed that the company will be discussing the antenna issue at that event.

Apple has also released iOS 3.2.1 for iPad, addressing a number of issues including Wi-Fi connectivity issues as promised in an Apple support document posted several months ago:

- Improved Wi-Fi connectivity
- Fixed an issue that could prevent copy and paste of single-page PDF attachments in Mail
- Addressed an issue that could cause video playback to freeze
- Improved reliability of video-out when using iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adapter
- Added Bing as an option for Safari's search field

TheStreet reports on new research from Rodman Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar claiming that Apple has developed an internal insulator to isolate the iPhone 4's antenna connection that has been causing signal reception issues.

Apple has created "a design fix for the iPhone 4 that more adequately insulates the transceiver," said Rodman Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar, who spoke to the company's manufacturing partners.

Apple has told its manufacturers to alter the iPhone production process to include an internal component that will insulate the defective antenna connection that has disrupted the phone's signal reception, said Kumar. This internal bumper will give Apple a non-cosmetic solution and will presumably avoid the need to change the appearance of the phone, said Kumar.

The report notes that the implied change to Apple's manufacturing process is making its presence known in Apple's U.S. online retail store, where shipping estimates have slipped to three weeks from a 7-10 business day timeframe earlier. MacRumors has also received word that Apple has been delaying some iPhone 4 orders that had been carrying delivery estimates for the next few days, pushing them out to delivery next week while citing "an unexpected delay".

It remains to be seen if and how such an internal insulator would be distributed to existing iPhone owners, either on as-needed basis or through a complete recall. It is also unknown whether such a fix can simply be applied to existing iPhones or if units would need to be swapped out for replacement. Further details from Apple regarding the antenna issue are widely expected to be shared at the company's press conference scheduled for tomorrow.

Kumar's track record is relatively unknown, as he has only recently begun covering Apple. He has been quite vocal on the idea of a Verizon iPhone, claiming in January that Apple had settled on a CDMA-only chip from Qualcomm for the Verizon iPhone while reporting in late May that Apple had given manufacturing partner Pegatron/Asustek the go-ahead for Verizon iPhone production for as early as November of this year. Kumar has also reported that Apple has secured an 8-megapixel camera sensor from Sony for the 2011 iPhone, a claim that obviously has not been verified or disproved yet.

Research firms Gartner and IDC yesterday both released preliminary reports detailing U.S. and worldwide PC shipments for the second quarter of 2010, with both firms showing sales growth of Apple's Mac product outpacing that of the industry as a whole.

According to Gartner's report, Apple placed fourth among U.S. computer shipments with a 9.8% market share on unit growth of 24.7% over the year-ago quarter. The nearly-10% U.S. market share for the quarter marks a new high for Apple over the past 15 years or so according to Gartner's numbers, up from the previous quarter's 8.0% and from 9.1% in the year-ago quarter. Apple also climbed back into fourth place for U.S. shipments, taking back the spot it ceded to Toshiba two quarters ago in the face of strong netbook sales.

Overall, Gartner saw a healthy 16% gain in U.S. PC shipments over the year-ago quarter, but pointed to slower growth in netbooks, reportedly due to cannibalization by Apple's iPad, which is not included in the study's numbers.

"The consumer PC market registered double-digit shipment growth, but consumer mobile shipment growth slowed. This was due in part to slower growth of mini-notebooks," Ms. Kitagawa said. "Surging popularity of Apple's iPad temporarily cannibalized mini-notebooks, as well as consumer notebook sales to some degree. It is not certain at this stage if the cannibalization will continue with the current price point of media tablets."

IDC similarly reports Apple's U.S. Mac sales growth as outpacing the overall industry, but to a smaller degree. IDC puts Apple's U.S. market share for the quarter at 8.8% on a unit increase of 15.4% from the year-ago quarter, when it held an 8.6% share of sales. Still, that performance moves Apple back into fourth place ahead of Toshiba and outpaces the more modest overall U.S. industry growth of 12.6% seen by IDC.

Neither Gartner nor IDC saw Apple break into their top 5 vendors for worldwide shipments, where Gartner sees Toshiba holding down the fifth spot with 5.1% share and IDC has Toshiba and Asus in a virtual tie at 5.3% at the bottom of its list.

Bloomberg reports that Apple senior engineer and antenna expert Ruben Caballero expressed his concerns to CEO Steve Jobs early in the iPhone 4's design process over the device's antenna design.

Apple Inc.'s senior antenna expert voiced concern to Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs in the early design phase of the iPhone 4 that the antenna design could lead to dropped calls, a person familiar with the matter said.

Last year, Ruben Caballero, a senior engineer and antenna expert, informed Apple's management the device's design may cause reception problems, said the person, who is not authorized to speak on Apple's behalf and asked not to be identified.

The report also cites claims from a second source that one of Apple's carrier partners also raised concerns about the design ahead of the device's launch late last month, although presumably those concerns came much closer to the product's launch than Caballero's.

Apple declined to comment on the report, and Caballero did not respond to multiple attempts to contact him for the story.

Apple is set to hold a press conference at 10:00 AM Pacific Time tomorrow on the topic of the iPhone 4, and the company is widely expected to talk about the device's signal issues at the event.

Boy Genius Report claims to have received information from the new iOS 4.1 beta partially revealing how FaceTime might work with future front camera-enabled iPad and iPod touch devices. While those devices have been presumed to gain FaceTime functionality in future hardware revisions as Apple seeks to expand the network of people able to participate in video calls using its standard, the question of how those device lacking phone numbers associated with them would be identified has remained unanswered.

It's actually pretty simple... Your Apple ID will be registered with your device/s, and that will allow other Apple devices to start a FaceTime call using your email address. Apple will also reportedly make use of push notifications to deliver these incoming FaceTime connection requests as we have been informed there is a push notification detector tied into the FaceTime frameworks in the new iPhone OS 4.1 beta.

While BGR claims that an Apple ID would be linked to the user's devices, screenshots accompanying the article suggest that merely an email address might be required, suggesting broader functionality.

The report also does not address how a user with multiple FaceTime-compatible devices such as a future iPad and iPod touch setup would be required to configure their settings. Could a single email address be linked to both devices? If so, how would callers specify which device to call? If not, users would have to have multiple email addresses and share each of them with their friends and family in order to receive calls on their various devices, a process that would seem rather complex given Apple's penchant for streamlining the user experience.

Digitimes reports that Apple is preparing two updates for the second half of 2010. The first is said to be an 11.6-inch MacBook Air featuring a Intel Core i-series ultra-low voltage processor. An 11.6-inch display would be notably smaller than the current 13.3-inch screen found in the current MacBook Air.

Kuo, citing discussions with upstream component makers, noted that the 11.6-inch MacBook Air will feature an even slimmer and lighter design than the previous-generation models and the technologies used for the design and concept are expected to be broadly used in the company's other product lines to boost their competitiveness.

Meanwhile, Digitimes adds some details to the new iPod Touch that is expected this fall.

The new iPod touch will feature a 3-megapixel camera, capable of both photo and video recording, and will adopt Apple's latest A4 processor, which is also used in the iPhone 4.

The new iPod Touch was expected to share the A4 processor found in the iPhone 4 and iPad, but the exact camera specs have been up for debate.